The South Pacific by BillPennington

Which European navigator, who experienced favourable weather upon first sailing on the ocean in 1521, is credited with naming the Pacific?

The languages of Micronesia and Polynesia belong to which much larger language group, which is thought to have originated in Taiwan?

The character of Bloody Mary in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific is based on the real life daughter of an Englishman and his Samoan wife. She ran a famous hotel in Apia, Samoa for many years until her death in 1988. The hotel is still there and bears her name. Who is she?

Rugby Union is widely popular in almost all South Pacific countries, however name the only country in the world where Rugby League is the national sport.

On the morning of November 20, 1943, American forces conducted the first Allied offensive of the Pacific Theatre, which included the first amphibious landing opposed by the Japanese. This battle took place on Tarawa Atoll. Tarawa Atoll is now part of what modern country?

The only remaining British territory in the Pacific is probably most famous for being the first place where the Bounty mutineers settled in 1790. Now home to only 68 people, this island is one of the most remote places on earth.

The recent Disney animated film Moana left out an important character in Polynesian mythology. Maui's elder sister, or in some legends his wife, is a powerful female goddess associated with motherhood, the moon and eels. Who is she?

The South Pacific Commission (SPC) was founded in Canberra, Australia in 1947. Now known as the Pacific Community, in what city of the region, the capital of a French territory, is it now headquartered?

The only gold medal in Olympic history won by any country from the region was in Men's Rugby Sevens in Rio in 2016. What country was this?

In the Santa Cruz Islands, part of the Solomon Islands, a special type of money (known as tevau) is used for trade and in settling important traditional obligations. The "money" consists of long coils up to 9 metres long made of plant fibre, covered in what naturally occurring material, which gives this type of money it's common name?

The only Kingdom remaining in the region, Tonga is famous for her monarch riding through the rain in an open topped carriage during the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. Who was she?

Artocarpus altilis is a native tree of the South Pacific, part of the mulberry and jackfruit families. In the late 18th century, British and French sailors brought the tree to the Caribbean, where the fruit was used as cheap nutrition for slaves on sugar cane plantations. Named for the texture of its fruit when cooked, what is this tree known as?